We were thrilled to be invited to the press preview of Epstein The Play during our time in Liverpool. Showing at the Epstein Theatre (very apt) the play starred Andrew Lancel and Will Finlason and fictitiously documents final hours of the enigmatic but tortured man behind The Beatles.
plays Brian Epstein – credit Matt Ford
Brian and The Beatles
Now, we aren’t theatre critics, so we aren’t going to harp on about the subtle blend of multi-media, the engrossing, perplexing style of the play-write or the crescendo of emotions that enthralled the audience in the final scenes. Not that we don’t think all this is true – we just don’t want to sound like pretentious eejits. However, we can comfortably say that we bloody, ruddy loved it! The play was magical, we thought the actors were fantastic, and we felt incredibly honoured to have been invited.
Day two in Liverpool we set about further exploring the Albert Docks and Liverpool One – the shopping district. Whilst our morning was spent with me working from a coffee shop and Mr B off taking photographs, we reconvened after lunch and wandered around the shops then over to the Docks. After a spin on the Echo Big Wheel, that give you the most stunning views over the whole of Liverpool, the Mersey river and beyond, we headed on to discover our next bed for the night.
The Albert Docks
Our second night in Liverpool was spent at Hotel Indigo. This stylish, modern hotel is centrally located and boasts not only a rather delightful cocktail bar (complete with candy floss machine – but more on that later) but also a Marco Pierre White Steak and Grill restaurant. What a treat!
Hotel Indigo, Liverpool – super-stylish
Our room at Hotel Indigo was super-stylish, immaculately clean and very modern. Mod-cons included a tv you could hear in the shower, movement-operated wardrobe light and WIFI – huzzah for that.
After a brief interlude (tourist-ing is TIRING!) and a wash and brush up we were ready to see what downstairs at Hotel Indigo had to offer. Having been busy tweeting throughout our stay, it was the hotel’s social media team that inspired the first drink of the evening. Their signature drink, a cotton candy martini was, apparently, not to be missed. Never one to turn down a martini, this was my first order.
(now, you lovely lot – don’t judge my Instagramming – I wasn’t planning on using this picture for the piece – they were just for my own amusement … but thinking about it, the candyfloss was pretty cool … so you’ll understand why I made a little exception!)
Cotton Candy Martini in the making!
Want to know how it was made – well, here’s our lovely barman to tell you more:
The staff at Hotel Indigo are really lovely – the barmen all made us feel right at home and no one batted an eyelid whist I scrutinized every step of the cocktail making process, quizzed them about their gin, soft sold then a tonic brand they’d not yet heard of or delayed our dinner reservation by 45 minutes whilst we tried “just one more” cocktail … we had a marvellous time.
Marco Pierre White at Hotel Indigo, Liverpool
Dinner was everything you would expect from Marco Pierre White. It had balls, it held no prisoners and it was absolutely delicious. We paired a beautiful bottle of Malbec with pork and steak (of course) – my pork was the finest I think I have ever tasted and Mr B devoured his steak, declaring it to be mighty fine. Our waiter was attentive but not in-your-face, and even bought me a little black pudding to try (I’d never liked the thought but he promised me it would be delightful … it wasn’t, but I thank him for letting me try it all the same!)
Pork and beef, oh MY!
Pork and beef, oh MY!
Contented and only a touch tiddly we headed to our room to get some shut eye before the journey home. Overnight rain had begun to lash down outside and unfortunately this somewhat scuppered our hopes of a good night’s rest. Outside the windows of our room was some decorative curved metal that, in conjunction with heavy rainfall, proceeded to play us a samba-style drumming solo from about 4am. When it comes to hotels, it’s the little details that make all the difference. Whilst Hotel Indigo was friendly, delicious, stylish and sophisticated, it is a real shame that this rather unfortunate byproduct of the swish exterior design left us somewhat grumpy by morning.
The fabulous shower and some perky morning tv helped us some way towards chipper by the time we checked out and headed home.
By far and away Liverpool exceeded our expectations. More than anything, it’s the people that leave a lasting impression. Everywhere we went we were greeted by warm, friendly and welcoming people that made us feel right at home.
So thanks, Liverpool – we think we love you a little bit!
